Contested Territories

The United States acquired vast territories between the time of the Revolution
and the Civil War, paying a price economically, socially, and politically. This
unit examines the forces that drove such rapid expansion, the settlers moving
into these regions, and the impact on the Native Americans already there.

Themes

Over the first six decades of
the nineteenth century, multiple
political, social, and economic
factors drove American territorial
expansion. More

Expansion affected different groups
of people in a variety of ways —
offering opportunities to some, and
causing dispossession, loss, and
conflict for many others. More

The struggle of incorporating
new lands as states exacerbated
existing sectionalist rivalries,
leading to a series of political crises
that culminated in the Civil War. More